A caravan of 17 police motorcycles with flashing blue lights rode into parking area of the Midtown Promenade on Thursday evening.

What was going on?

An officer told me they had accompanied protesters from Five Points to Piedmont Park, and they were hanging back a couple of blocks away until the protest ended or until they were needed.

“A real show of force,” I told him.

“No, it’s a show of love,” he answered.

A line of 17 APD motorcycle riders with blue lights flashing line up waiting for protest in Piedmont Park to end (Photo by Maria Saporta)

Looking back at the events of the past several days, I can honestly say that Atlanta is living up to its ideals and coming into its own.

For several years, we’ve seen senseless killings of black men by police officers in other communities – giving rise to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. In many of those communities the police force does not look like the community. Fear, anger, suspicion and paranoia can quickly turn a bad situation into a horrible one.

Then Dallas happened. A sniper actually seemed to be using white police officers as target practice.

Under that backdrop, I can’t help but feel pride in how the Black Lives Matter movement in Atlanta and how the Atlanta Police Department have handled the situations that have come their way.

First, let me give credit to both Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Police Chief George Turner. They showed both restraint and respect to the protestors – knowing that civil disobedience is is at the core of Atlanta’s DNA.

They also were wise to draw a line that the protestors not be allowed on the Interstate – one of the most dangerous moves protestors can make – putting both their own lives and the lives of drivers in danger.

For the most part, protestors seemed to accept those boundaries – also living true to Atlanta’s place in history.

But most importantly, people on all sides of this equation kept referring back to the philosophy of Atlanta’s legendary leader Martin Luther King Jr., who found a way to change the world through non-violence.

His youngest daughter, Bernice King, reminded us of King’s message of non-violence – while acknowledging the concerns of the protestors. The senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King used to preach, urged people to work through their differences.

That was not all.

Two years ago, Atlanta was insightful enough to open the Center for Civil and Human Rights as a way to not only remember our special place in history but to have a place where we can work on our modern-day issues of human rights.

It was no coincidence that the protestors chose to gather at the Center on Friday night to express their grief for the killing of Philando Castile in the St. Paul, Minnesota, and for Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as the tragedy in Dallas where five policemen were killed and seven other people were wounded.

We are so fortunate that we have created one more anchor in our city to remind us that we stand for a mature, compassionate and respectful approach to resolving our differences. We have other institutions – the King Center, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site of the National Park Service and the Carter Center – that also help keep us grounded in core values.

More telling is to look at our track record.

In 2015, the Atlanta police fired their weapons just nine times in more than 1.5 million interactions with citizen, according to a report on WSB-TV Friday night. That is incredible and worth repeating. Atlanta police fired their weapons only nine times in 2015 in 1.5 million interactions with citizens.

We have a force of nearly 2,000 policemen who have been trained in the art of restraint. We do not have a trigger-happy police force. Under the leadership of Police Chief Turner, APD has been focused more on community policing initiatives – looking to bridge the divides in Atlanta.

There is another ingredient to Atlanta’s magic. For the past 13 years, Atlanta’s business and philanthropic community has been working in concert with the Atlanta Police Department through the Atlanta Police Foundation.

After supporting efforts to install security cameras and license plate readers and offer Crime Stoppers’ rewards, the Atlanta Police Foundation is working with the Department to help provide housing for police officers in communities most in need of improved public safety – such as English Avenue and Vine City.

The Foundation also is planning to build a youth center in that community in an attempt to prevent young people from entering a life of crime.

Maria Saporta, Editor, is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist with a deep knowledge of our city, our region and state. Since 2008, she has written a weekly column and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Prior to that, she spent 27 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, becoming its business columnist in 1991. Maria received her Master’s degree in urban studies from Georgia State and her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Maria was born in Atlanta to European parents and has two young adult children.

Love this article. Loved seeing the citizens of Atlanta, both Public and private working together to make a statement about unity and showing the rest of the country why we were the birth place of the CIVIL rights movement.Report

“Then Dallas happened. A sniper actually seemed to be using white police officers as target practice.

Under that backdrop, I can’t help but feel pride in how the Black Lives Matter movement in Atlanta and how the Atlanta Police Department have handled the situations that have come their way.”

So… You feel that the fact that Black Lives Matter didn’t target and assassinate police officers for being white in Atlanta, as in Dallas, as a reason to feel pride for them, My God that such a low bar!

It reminds me of the phrase, “bigotry of low expectations”.

Do you have such low regard for blacks that the fact that they don’t kill out of anger as a reason for praise?Report

Love this perspective. I’ve been thinking the exact same thing recently – that, at least so far, both sides are behaving extremely well. I don’t agree with the idea for protesters to block the interstate, but that ended well.

Much credit to Mayor Reed for this – he has handled everything exceptionally well so far. It will really add not only to his legacy, in showing how to handle protests. They are a valuable part of America, as long as they are peaceful.Report

Shoddy reporting Maria. You credit Dr. King and headline his work and teachings, but fail to quote or reach out to his children, nor his former staff members — Rev. C.T. Vivian, Mayor/Ambassador Andrew Young, field worker Ralph Worrell or SCLC Board Chairman Dr. Bernard LaFayette. Where and what is your credibility or insight about Dr. King and/or The Civil Rights Movement? You were not there.
This was seemingly a suck-up piece and ode to Mayor Reed who has continually been your harshest critic. And, the white business community. Don’t pimp Dr. King Maria. Your are better than that my friend.Report

I am sick of the progressive adoration of BLM, as I was when the object was the Black Panther Party. It is trendy and so chic and noble of those who also court the poor in tails and spats.
BLM is a political movement and shakedown.
The only lives that matter to BLM are black lives that might have been taken by white law enforcement; no other lives matter.Report